1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile device providing an interface environment, which can be operated by a user using one hand and in which the user may provide a touch input that is input as a predetermined touch gesture to reduce a screen and display the reduced screen in only a portion of a display unit, and a method of controlling the screen of the mobile device.
2. Description of the Related Art
As mobile devices such as smartphones, tablet PCs, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and the like have come into widespread use, various methods have been suggested to increase user convenience in the use thereof. There is a tendency for mobile devices that are currently being developed and launched to include a large-sized screen in order to increase user convenience. By applying a large-sized display unit to a mobile device, viewer convenience in terms of watching videos or reading text may be increased, and currently, a large screen display unit is being applied not only to tablet PCs but also to smartphones.
Currently launched smartphones mostly provide a large screen of 4.5 inches or more, and some provide a screen of 5 inches or more. Although the provision of such a large screen may degrade portability, a large amount of text and images may be viewed on a single screen, and input via a touch screen becomes more convenient, and thus, the tendency for increased screen size in smartphones is expected to continue due to these strengths.
However, as the size of smartphone screens has gradually increased, not only portability of smartphones has been reduced, but operability thereof has decreased. That is, a mobile device having a screen of 4 inches or so may be operated by a user holding the mobile device with one hand and using only the thumb of the holding hand. However, as the screen size has increased to near 5 inches or even beyond 5 inches, a mobile device with such a screen cannot be operated using only one hand. Thus, in addition to a more convenient user interface using a large-sized screen, a method of executing any input using one hand needs to be provided according to circumstance.
Of the related art documents shown below, Patent Document 1 is related to a method of controlling a virtual keyboard device displayed on a display unit using a input gesture of a user, and Patent Document 2 is related to a method of expanding or reducing a predetermined portion of a screen displayed by a display unit according to a input gesture of a user.